Interview Preparation

Chargeup: Interview Preparation For B2B Sales & Partnership Lead Role

Chargeup: Interview Preparation For B2B Sales & Partnership Lead Role

Chargeup is India’s leading EV financing and asset management platform, focused on making electric vehicle ownership accessible and reliable with a 365-day nonstop running assurance. By enabling delivery drivers and last-mile operators to access dependable EV assets and financing, Chargeup addresses critical pain points in the gig economy uptime, affordability, and earnings stability.

Through a combination of financing innovation and operational rigor, the company is building the infrastructure and partnerships needed to accelerate EV adoption across India’s high-growth last-mile logistics sector.

This comprehensive guide provides essential insights into the B2B Sales & Partnership Lead at Chargeup, covering required skills, responsibilities, interview questions, and preparation strategies to help aspiring candidates succeed.


1. About the B2B Sales & Partnership Lead Role

As a B2B Sales & Partnership Lead based in Sultanpur, Delhi, you will build and manage high-impact partnerships across the EV and Fintech ecosystem.

The role centers on identifying, negotiating, and nurturing relationships with OEMs, NBFCs, and other strategic partners to drive growth and market expansion. You will develop scalable outreach and onboarding motions, lead commercial negotiations, close deals, and establish a structured relationship management framework that delivers measurable business outcomes.

This is a strategic leadership position that reports directly to the Co-Founder & CEO, offering meaningful exposure to executive decision-making and a clear path to roles such as Regional/PAN India Partnership Lead, Strategy Lead, or Partnership Success Lead. By aligning partner strategies with market trends and competitive dynamics, the role is pivotal to Chargeup’s mission of delivering reliable, accessible EV ownership and securing its leadership in last-mile mobility financing and asset management.


2. Required Skills and Qualifications

Success in this role requires a blend of partnership-building expertise, commercial acumen, and data-driven execution. Below are the essential qualifications and capabilities aligned with the position’s scope and impact.

Key Competencies

  • Strategic Partnership Development & Ecosystem Building: The core competency is the demonstrated ability to identify, build, and manage strategic partnerships within the specific EV and Fintech ecosystem. This involves more than sales; it's about creating long-term, scalable alliances with OEMs, NBFCs, and other key players.
  • Commercial Negotiation & Deal Structuring: Skill in leading complex commercial negotiations, finalizing partnership agreements, and ensuring successful deal closures that drive mutual growth. You must secure deals that are beneficial for both parties.
  • Market Intelligence & Strategic Thinking: Strong capability to monitor market trends, competitor activity, and industry developments to inform and align partnership strategy with core business objectives. Being a highly analytical and data-driven decision-maker is a stated requirement.
  • Stakeholder Management & Executive Communication: Excellent communication skills to engage effectively with C-level executives (including the CEO, to whom this role reports) and other senior stakeholders at partner organizations.
  • Ownership & Entrepreneurial Drive: A clear ownership mindset is required to drive growth from scratch, manage a team, and operate with the autonomy expected in a role reporting directly to a Co-Founder.

Technical & Industry Skills

  • Industry Knowledge: Deep understanding of the EV financing ecosystem and last-mile mobility space. Familiarity with the operational models of OEMs and NBFCs is crucial.
  • Partnership Management Frameworks: Knowledge of structuring a scalable approach to partner outreach, onboarding, and ongoing relationship management, ensuring partners are well-equipped to succeed.
  • Product-Led Growth (PLG) Acumen: Strong exposure to product-led growth principles, understanding how to leverage the product itself as a driver for partnership expansion.
  • Analytics & CRM Tools: Proficiency in using data analytics to track partnership performance and forecast growth, and familiarity with CRM systems for managing partner pipelines

3. Day-to-Day Responsibilities

Below is a typical cadence of activities for this role, reflecting daily and weekly focus areas tied to growth, partner success, and market impact.

  • Demonstrate experience in building and managing strategic partnerships within the EV and/or Fintech ecosystem.
  • Identify, build, and strengthen relationships with key B2B partners, including OEMs and NBFCs.
  • Develop and implement a structured and scalable approach for partner outreach, onboarding, and ongoing relationship management.
  • Drive growth by expanding existing partnerships and identifying opportunities to form new strategic alliances.
  • Monitor market trends, competitor activity, and industry developments to align partnership strategies with business objectives.
  • Lead commercial negotiations, finalize partnership agreements, and ensure successful deal closures.

4. Key Competencies for Success

Beyond baseline requirements, the following competencies differentiate top performers in this role by enabling durable, scalable partnerships and predictable growth.

  • Systems Thinking: Seeing the full lifecycle from sourcing to renewal; designing processes that scale across partners and regions.
  • Outcome-Oriented Negotiation: Balancing speed of closure with long-term value, risk mitigation, and win–win economics.
  • Executive Communication: Crisp updates, clear narratives, and data-backed recommendations for CXO-level stakeholders.
  • Operational Rigor: Turning agreements into execution with cadence, documentation, and KPI tracking that sustain momentum.
  • Market Curiosity: Continuously learning from industry shifts, policy, and competition to refine partner strategy.

5. Common Interview Questions

This section provides a selection of common interview questions to help candidates prepare effectively for their B2B Sales & Partnership Lead interview at Chargeup.

General & Behavioral Questions
Tell us about yourself and why Chargeup appeals to you.

Link your experience to Chargeup’s mission of accessible, reliable EV ownership and its 365-day uptime assurance.

What excites you about building partnerships in the EV and Fintech ecosystem?

Show understanding of OEM and NBFC dynamics and the impact on last-mile mobility and driver earnings.

Describe a time you owned a target end-to-end in a fast-paced startup.

Highlight ownership, speed, and cross-functional coordination to deliver measurable results.

How do you prioritize a long list of prospective partners?

Explain a scoring model using fit, potential impact, time-to-value, and ease of integration.

Tell us about a difficult stakeholder and how you built trust.

Demonstrate empathy, structured communication, and consistent delivery against commitments.

How do you handle long sales cycles and setbacks?

Discuss pipeline hygiene, multi-threading, and maintaining momentum with executive sponsors.

What’s your negotiation style?

Describe principled negotiation: aligning on interests, expanding value, and managing trade-offs.

How do you measure success in a partnership?

Reference adoption, revenue, retention/renewal, SLA adherence, and expansion metrics.

How do you communicate updates to CXO leadership?

Outline concise, data-backed reports with risks, asks, and decisions required.

What would your first 90 days look like in this role?

Present a 30-60-90 plan: discovery and mapping, pilot closures, and scalable processes.

Prepare 2–3 STAR stories each for ownership, negotiation, and stakeholder management with quantified outcomes.

Technical and Industry-Specific Questions
How would you explain the EV financing value chain in India?

Map roles of OEMs, financiers (NBFCs), asset management, and last-mile operators.

What distinguishes asset financing, leasing, and subscription models?

Compare ownership, risk allocation, cash flows, and lifecycle responsibilities.

Which terms are crucial in an OEM or NBFC partnership agreement?

Focus on scope, pricing, SLAs, governance, data sharing, termination, and compliance.

How do you evaluate the unit impact of a partnership?

Discuss adoption funnel, revenue contribution, payback period, and retention.

What risks do you monitor in EV financing partnerships?

Operational uptime, credit/performance risk, demand variability, and partner dependency.

Which KPIs would you track for partner performance?

Leads-to-deal conversion, activation rate, SLA compliance, NPS, and renewal/expansion.

How do you assess an OEM’s readiness for partnership?

Evaluate product quality, delivery capacity, after-sales support, and roadmap alignment.

How would you structure incentives to drive partner adoption?

Propose milestone-based incentives tied to activation, quality, and retention.

What are key data considerations when collaborating with NBFCs?

Data accuracy, privacy, security, consent, and governance for performance reporting.

How can product-led growth deepen B2B partnerships?

Use feature adoption, integrations, and usage analytics to drive expansion.

Ground your answers in clear frameworks and reference real metrics you have used to manage partnerships.

Problem-Solving and Situation-Based Questions
An OEM misses delivery timelines for a critical pilot. What do you do?

Escalate via governance, renegotiate milestones, activate contingency OEMs, and protect SLAs.

An NBFC pauses disbursements due to rising delinquencies. Your plan?

Share performance diagnostics, propose risk controls, pilot revised cohorts, and set review cadence.

A competitor signs an exclusive with your target OEM. How do you respond?

Re-segment OEMs, explore carve-outs, deepen other OEM ties, or create multi-party alliances.

A partner signals churn at renewal. How do you retain them?

Run a value review, address root causes, propose revised terms, and set success checkpoints.

You have two weeks to map Delhi partners and open 3 meetings. Approach?

Use a targeting matrix, warm intros, founder-level outreach, and a sharp value narrative.

Internal teams disagree on scope for a signed deal. What’s your play?

Revisit the contract, align on definitions, set RACI, and reset timelines with the partner.

ROI is below target mid-pilot. Continue, pivot, or stop?

Assess leading indicators, test adjustments quickly, and define go/no-go thresholds.

How would you launch a new city with limited partner presence?

Anchor with 1–2 marquee partners, run quick-win pilots, and build local proof points.

Data shows a drop in uptime affecting partner SLAs. Next steps?

Identify failure modes, deploy fixes, communicate transparently, and track recovery trends.

Design a scalable partner onboarding process.

Standardize documentation, checklists, training, integration steps, and success metrics.

Frame each answer with problem, options, chosen approach, rationale, and measurable result.

Resume and Role-Specific Questions
Walk us through your most impactful B2B partnership.

Detail objectives, your role, negotiation, execution, and quantifiable outcomes.

What targets did you own and how did you perform?

Share numeric goals vs. actuals, cycle times, and expansion rates.

Describe a contract you negotiated key terms you optimized.

Discuss SLAs, pricing, risk sharing, data, and termination clauses you influenced.

How do you build and forecast a partner pipeline?

Explain stages, qualification criteria, probabilities, and review cadence.

Give an example of shaping product or process from partner feedback.

Show how insights drove roadmap or operational changes and improved metrics.

What’s your approach to cross-functional execution post-signature?

Cover handoffs, RACI, onboarding, and periodic performance reviews.

Which tools or methods do you use to manage partnerships?

Describe your approach to tracking, documentation, and reporting accuracy.

How have you mentored or led a team?

Share hiring, coaching, and performance management examples.

Why this role, in Delhi, reporting to the Co-Founder & CEO?

Connect your readiness for high-ownership execution and executive collaboration.

What is your 6–12 month vision for partnerships at Chargeup?

Outline a roadmap for pipeline build, pilots to scale, and governance at maturity.

Bring a concise “deal sheet” with 3–5 partnerships, your contributions, and verifiable outcomes.


6. Common Topics and Areas of Focus for Interview Preparation

To excel in your B2B Sales & Partnership Lead role at Chargeup, it’s essential to focus on the following areas. These topics highlight the key responsibilities and expectations, preparing you to discuss your skills and experiences in a way that aligns with Chargeup objectives.

  • EV Financing Ecosystem and Roles: Study how OEMs, NBFCs, asset managers, and operators interact to enable EV adoption in last-mile logistics.
  • Partnership Lifecycle and Governance: Understand sourcing, qualification, negotiation, onboarding, SLA management, QBRs, and renewals/expansions.
  • Commercial Structuring and Negotiation: Review pricing models, incentive structures, performance clauses, and risk-sharing mechanisms.
  • Metrics and Analytics for B2B Growth: Prepare to discuss conversion funnels, activation, retention, expansion, and payback/impact metrics.
  • Market and Competitive Intelligence: Track industry trends, policy shifts, and competitor partnerships to sharpen your go-to-market strategy.

7. Perks and Benefits of Working at Chargeup

Chargeup offers a comprehensive package of benefits to support the well-being, professional growth, and satisfaction of its employees. Here are some of the key perks you can expect

  • Direct CXO Exposure: The role reports to the Co-Founder & CEO, providing senior mentorship and fast decision cycles.
  • Clear Career Progression: Defined growth path with opportunities such as Regional/PAN India Partnership Lead, Strategy Lead, and Partnership Success Lead.
  • High-Ownership Leadership Role: End-to-end accountability for building and scaling strategic partnerships.
  • Ecosystem Impact: Opportunity to shape partnerships across OEMs, NBFCs, and strategic allies in a high-growth EV market.
  • Mission-Driven Work: Contribute to accessible, reliable EV ownership and improved livelihoods for delivery drivers.

8. Conclusion

The B2B Sales & Partnership Lead at Chargeup is a strategic, high-ownership role at the heart of India’s EV transition. You will identify, close, and grow OEM, NBFC, and ecosystem alliances that unlock scalable adoption and reliable asset performance.

To stand out, present a data-driven approach to partner selection, clear negotiation frameworks, and a plan to convert signed agreements into measurable outcomes. Emphasize structured processes, strong stakeholder management, and a 30-60-90 plan aligned to Chargeup’s mission of accessible, reliable EV ownership. With direct CXO exposure and a defined growth path, this role is a compelling opportunity for candidates ready to lead with impact.

Tips for Interview Success:

  • Lead with outcomes: Quantify results from past partnerships conversion, activation, revenue, and expansion metrics.
  • Show your frameworks: Bring your partner scoring model, negotiation checklist, and onboarding playbook.
  • Tailor to Chargeup: Map how OEM/NBFC partnerships can drive reliable uptime and scale in Delhi and beyond.
  • Present a 90-day plan: Outline discovery, pilot closures, and governance rituals to de-risk execution.